Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A Jumping Spider (Phidippus texanus) looks around from its perch on the arm of a rocking chair on the porch of the visitor center at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, in Colorado County, TX, USA. An Ant (family Formicidae) -- maybe a Dark Rover Ant (Brachymyrmex patagonicus) -- comes near, sees the Spider, and turns around. The Spider seems to see the Ant, too, but more or less ignores the Ant, perhaps thinking it's too small to bother hunting.
I think it's interesting the way this Spider moves around on the chair. It seems to hold its body close to the chair, sort of sprawled out, and dragging its legs a bit as it turns, which seems different from how I've seen other other Jumping Spiders move (more on the tips of their feet, with a taller posture).
This Spider seemed to stay here for much of the day. I checked for it several times while I was there, and it was in more or less the same spot every time I looked for it.
A Jumping Spider (Phidippus texanus) looks around from its perch on the arm of a rocking chair on the porch of the visitor center at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, in Colorado County, TX, USA. An Ant (family Formicidae) -- maybe a Dark Rover Ant (Brachymyrmex patagonicus) -- comes near, sees the Spider, and turns around. The Spider seems to see the Ant, too, but more or less ignores the Ant, perhaps thinking it's too small to bother hunting.
I think it's interesting the way this Spider moves around on the chair. It seems to hold its body close to the chair, sort of sprawled out, and dragging its legs a bit as it turns, which seems different from how I've seen other other Jumping Spiders move (more on the tips of their feet, with a taller posture).
This Spider seemed to stay here for much of the day. I checked for it several times while I was there, and it was in more or less the same spot every time I looked for it.
